Chapter Nine: Demon Lord Ghirahim

It had been what seemed like seven months since I had left Lanayru Village on this new adventure: to collect the spirit shards from the light spirits and reform the spirit key. Fortunately I had found several ways to travel besides on foot. Such as hitching a ride on a train freight car several times, and there was even a person I managed to convince to let me ride in the back of their truck. They weren't the most comfortable ways to travel, but I took what I could get. And now I was on the east coast of America, and the only thing separating me from Europe was miles and miles of ocean.

After searching all over for a boat or something to get me across the ocean, I came across a huge ocean liner docked near the pier. Hoping that this was my ticket to Europe, I went to ask if I could come aboard. Unfortunately my luck ran out there, because I actually needed a ticket to get on the boat. Disappointed, I headed in the opposite direction, trying to think of a way to cross the ocean. Then all of the sudden, I heard someone calling quietly from an alleyway.

"Hey, Kid. Come here for a second." The mysterious person said.

I couldn't see who it was, but I was wary. I approached with my hand gripping my sword, just in case this person tried anything funny.

"Oh, you can let go of that. There's no need for violence here." The man said.

Whoever he was, he came out of the shadows a little. He was slightly taller than me, and wrapped all around in a red cloak, so much that only part of his face was showing.

"I couldn't help but notice you trying to board that ocean liner." He said while staring at me with his visible, violet-colored eye.

"Umm… yeah. But I can't. I need a ticket. And I don't have any money to get one." I said.

"Ah, but you're in luck my friend! For you see… I have such a ticket right here." He told me, pulling out a single white ticket out of his robe.

"But I don't have any…." I began to say.

"Oh, I have no need for money." He said. "Consider this ticket yours. Free of charge."

He then handed me the ticket, snickering a bit as he did.

"But wait, why would you just give me…" I began to ask him, but before I could finish, he vanished.

What had just happened? I guess it didn't matter much. I had a ticket for the boat now.

I went back to the boat and showed my ticket to the people in charge. After it had been verified, I was allowed on board. Next stop, Europe, and the next spirit shard!

As it would just so happen, the ocean liner was fantastic! There was a pool on deck, a huge dining hall, and many other rooms for amusement. I even got my own room to stay in, which is where I spent most of the trip. While in my room, I would often pull out the strange gemstone that had formed when I met Starfire. I decided to call it the 'spirit gem' because it felt like there was a piece of each of our spirit's within it. One thing was for sure, whenever I held it, I'd always think of her.

About two days into the trip, the ship was heading into a harsh storm. The wind alone was making the whole ship wobble. It seemed to be a natural occurrence at first, but a few moments later, I heard screaming. It was coming from the dining hall. I quickly rushed out of my room to see what was going on. Many passengers were screaming, and attempting to flee the room, and I could soon see why. Scattered throughout the hall, were three large hairy black creatures with boar-like faces. Monsters were attacking the ship!

Almost everyone had cleared out of the room, all except for one person. A young girl with pure white hair and dressed in white was still in the room, and the monsters were blocking her escape. There was a good chance that those monsters would rip her apart, but I wasn't going to let that happen. I drew my sword and braced my shield, but remembering the battle against Trogaar six months ago, I decided not to use my powers, at least not yet. I approached the monsters.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" I yelled at them.

They left her alone alright, because now they were after me. They're attacks were strong enough to punch huge holes in the walls, but they were slow. Easy to dodge even without my powers. I was able to dispatch the first two after a while. The third one put up a bit more of a fight, but eventually fell to my blade.

I put my sword back in my scabbard, and walked over to the girl.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, I am fine now. You have my thanks." She said.

"It was no trouble. But where did those… things come from?" I asked.

Right after I had asked that, I heard someone clapping slowly. I then saw who was doing it. Behind us, across the room, was a man wrapped in a red cloak. The same strange man who gave me the boat ticket!

"Bravo! Very good show! I had expected those beasts I had summoned to tear you apart. But here you are… not in pieces. You're stronger than you look boy." He said.

"You!" I proclaimed. "You're the one who gave me the ticket for this boat! Who are you?!"

The man chortled, and then threw off his red cloak to reveal who he really was: A man with very pale skin, who wore a white unitard and a red cape. His hair was draped down over his left eye, and I saw he had pointed ears like mine (or at least one, the other wasn't visible).

"Of course. I've forgotten my manners. Allow me to introduce myself." He started. "I am the Demon Lord who wanders this world in search of… a particular something. You may call me Ghirahim."

Ghirahim? What kind of name was that?! Was this the evil that was trying to destroy the spirit key like Lanayru said?

"In truth…." He continued. "I much rather prefer to be indulged with my full title: Lord Ghirahim. But I'm not fussy… so pay it no mind."

"Why are you here?! Why did you send those monsters to attack everyone?!" I demanded.

Ghirahim chortled again, and flipped his hair in a mocking manner.

"Why to lure you out here of course. The little storm I stirred up didn't do it, so I brought some monsters to stir up some havoc. I knew a hero such as yourself couldn't ignore a cry for help." He answered.

He then disappeared suddenly, but we could still hear his voice. The girl I had just rescued backed away to the wall. Honestly I couldn't blame her. Things were getting creepy in here.

"I wish to fight you myself. I need to see what you're capable of. Besides, I've recently been having a craving for bloodshed!" Ghirahim said while he was nowhere in sight.

A second later though, he was right behind me. And if that that wasn't creepy enough, his head was right next to mine.

"Still, it hardly seems fair, being of my position, to mercilessly slaughter such a novice fighter." He told me. "That's why I promise up front not to kill you. No…. I'll just beat you to within an inch of your life!"

He flicked out his tongue like a snake after he said that. I quickly backed away from him, seriously creeped out. Ghirahim chuckled evilly, and then his red cape disappeared. He was ready to fight, having a wicked look on his face. If he wanted a fight, so be it, but I wasn't going down easy.

I readied myself for him to attack, but to my surprise he did not rush at me. Instead, he calmly walked towards me, almost as if there was no fight at all. He stood right in front of me with both hands behind his back and smiling wickedly at me. He was toying with me, trying to intimidate me. Unfortunately for me, his plan was working.

"What's wrong, kid? Afraid to attack?" he teased.

I had no idea how this strange man would fight, but I decided to take my chances and swiped at him. But my attack was stopped cold, because Ghirahim had caught the tip of my sword in mid-swing, with only two of his fingers! I struggled to get it free from his grip, but he was too strong and took the sword from me.

"Quite the sword you have here." Ghirahim said while examining it in his hands. "But as long as you keep attacking recklessly like the novice you are, you'll never land a blow."

This was bad. My opponent had my sword now, and was about to use it against me! I don't think I had any other choice at the time. I had to use my powers. Maybe then I'd be quick enough to snatch my sword back from him. With a quick focus, my powers came on. Ghirahim noticed this as my eyes glowed blue.

"Hmm… Intriguing. It seems you are able to call upon the power of the spirits. Perhaps this battle will be more interesting than I thought." Ghirahim remarked.

Power of the spirits? Is that was my powers were? I didn't have time to wonder that. I advanced quickly towards Ghirahim. He attempted to slash me with my sword, but I dodged the blow and hit him with my shield. This caused him to stumble and drop my sword. Very quickly, I picked up my sword and deactivated my powers. I remembered what happened the last time I had them on too long. I didn't want to make the same mistake.

"Well, I did not expect this. You now have my full attention, kid!" Ghirahim said.

He then snapped his fingers and a long black rapier appeared in his hand. Looks like the fight was starting for real now. Ghirahim rushed at me. I attempted to dodge his attack, but he still managed to strike my left arm. I immediately felt pain in my arm, for his attack had left a gash across it. It wasn't unbearable though, and even though it was still bleeding I shrugged off the pain and held my sword out, readying myself for whatever he was going to do next.

I expected another rush from him, but instead he snapped his fingers and vanished! A second later, I realized he had just teleported behind me. I remembered those tactics from my previous battles, where my opponent would vanish from sight to attack me from behind. I saw it coming this time though, so before Ghirahim could do anything I used a spinning sword attack. This attack caught him off guard and I managed to get a few more hits in. He then jumped back and gave a satisfied snarl.

"You're putting up more of a fight than I thought possible from such a soft boy. But can you dodge this?" Ghirahim suggested.

He then snapped his fingers again, but he didn't disappear this time. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing, but after a moment I saw. Circling around me were at least a dozen levitating dagger-like objects aimed right at me. I tried reacting, but I wasn't fast enough. One by one each dagger shot straight at me. They weren't made of metal though, they were made of some kind of energy and they burned up after each impact. Even so, they had all the pain of actual metal knives, and each one hurt like crazy!

This time the pain was more than I could bear, and I collapsed from exhaustion. Ghirahim walked up to me and looked upon my thrashed body. I was bleeding horribly, and before I went unconscious, Ghirahim said one last thing.

"Done already are we? Disappointing." He said. "You have a lot of work ahead to do if you ever hope to best me. Ta tah for now."

With that, he vanished, and I went unconscious.

When I regained consciousness I was lying on a slender white sheeted bed. My tunic had been taken off and several bandages were wrapped around the areas of my body that had been attacked. The strangest thing was that my wounds did not hurt at all anymore.

"Where am I?" I asked hoping someone would answer me.

"You're in the infirmary. I brought you here after you went unconscious." A female voice answered.

I looked around and sitting on a chair next to the bed was the white-haired girl I had rescued earlier.

"Did you heal my wounds?" I asked her.

"I did. They were quite severe, but I had no problems with treating them. I hope that you are feeling better now." She answered.

"Yeah, I feel fine now. Thanks." I said.

"It was the least I could do after you helped me before. My name is Kalena." She said.

"I'm Link." I told her.

I double-checked to make sure everything was okay. I pulled up my left sleeve and Kalena noticed the mark I had near my shoulder.

"Oh. I wasn't able to do anything about that one." She said.

"Oh. This isn't a wound. I've had it all my life. It's just a birthmark." I told her.

Still, it was rather strange-looking for a birthmark. It consisted of two circular patterns that resembled an eye. Come to think of it, back on the day that I met my friends, when I had felt a burn in my arm, it was in that particular area.

"Hey, do you have any idea who that man from before was?" I asked.

"No. I'm afraid I have never seen him before." She replied.

Just then we both heard a loud horn blow on the ship.

"Attention passengers, we have arrived in Spain. Please proceed to the boarding area when ready to exit." The ship's announcer said.

After hearing that I jumped out of the bed, prepared to leave the boat. Kalena handed me my tunic and my weapons. Apparently she had fixed them up while I was unconscious. After putting them back on, I bid farewell to Kalena and made my way towards the boarding area.

As I exited the boat, I noticed how different my surroundings were. Europe was certainly different from America. I had no second thoughts as I began walking through the European city. I had to get to the forested areas of Europe. Somewhere in those forests I would find the next light spirit, and receive the second spirit shard.